Du Preez impressed with changes Brown has brought

It sometimes takes someone who hasn’t been part of something for a while to notice changes and improvements to the system that he or she was part of before, and that appears to be the case for Springbok No 8 Jean-Luc du Preez.

The former Sharks player is something of a returning Prodigal Son for the Boks when they face the Barbarians in their 2025 seasonal pipe-opener at the DHL Stadium as he last played for the national team in a warmup game to the 2023 Rugby World Cup against Argentina.

It has been subsequent to that that the Boks have welcomed former All Black flyhalf and Japan assistant coach Tony Brown as their attack coach, and Du Preez has noted and been enthused by the different dimension he has brought. He feels the Boks are a better all round team now than they were when he last played for them.

“I would say the difference Tony has made coming in is that the Boks have always been labelled as, and I don’t want to say boring, but a very conservative team,” said Du Preez.

“We were known as a team who kick a lot and that does its playing in their half of the field. I just think with Tony coming in these last two years, our attack has really stepped up.”

Du Preez made his debut for the Boks at the early, embryonic stage of Rassie Erasmus’ stint as Bok coach and hasn’t played a lot since. For instance, Saturday’s game will be the first time he plays in the same back row combination as captain Siya Kolisi since the England series in 2018.

“The last time I played with Siya was back in 2018, so it’s going to be good to reconnect with him on the field again on Saturday. I’m looking forward to playing with Siya and Vincent (Tshituka) and I will be taking on the Jasper Wiese role in the middle of the field.”

UP AGAINST QUALITY

Du Preez is up against an international quality Barbarians loose trio in the form of All Blacks Shannon Frizell and Sam Cane as well as the Irish and British and Irish Lions legend Peter O’Mahony, who will be bringing the curtain down on a stellar career in Saturday’s match. It’s going to be a good test for Du Preez and his fellow back row players, but one he is looking forward to.

“They’ll be coming hard. They’ll want to prove themselves against the Boks and that’s where we’ll need to front up. I think they’ll definitely want to prove a point, because just playing against the Springboks will get them up for it. “

The 29-year-old loose-forward has been playing in England for several years now but says he had never given up on his dream of playing for the Boks again and is delighted to be given the opportunity to show on Saturday that he hasn’t lost what it was that made him a Bok in the first place.

“Playing for the Springboks again has always been in the back of my mind, and my plan was always to give my best for my club in the hope that I make it back into the team, so I’m delighted to get this opportunity again. It is a massive privilege, so I plan to go out there and give it my best.”